Larry Sagers
Matt McConkie involved his children in his 2010 record-setting pumpkin.
As a father, I trained six reluctant gardeners. For those of you going through this stage of life, there is justice. Now grown with families of their own, most have now realized that gardening is important and they want to teach their children to garden.
Being a grandpa gardener is the easiest. I bought a couple dozen children's-size garden implements and made certain each grandchild had one or more as a Christmas present.
I bring them some seeds, add in a few plants and then add lots of playtime and advice. I can happily leave things like getting the kids to work hard and do more difficult tasks to their parents.
Children's gardening benefits
Cornell University Department of Horticulture conducted extensive studies on the benefits of gardening with children. Those who work in gardens excelled in seven areas:
An increased interest in eating fruits and vegetables. This leads to more healthful diets and nutritional awareness.
A greater appreciation for working with neighborhood adults and being more agreeable about it.
An increased interest in keeping their homes and neighborhoods clean and in good appearance.
More positive attitudes about environmental issues.
An improvement in their behavior, increased self-esteem and a greater sense of ownership and responsibility. When they worked with family members, they fostered better relationships with them.
Better physical and mental health, such as reduced stress levels, lower blood pressure and reduced muscle tension.
Higher scores on scientific achievement tests due to the hands-on knowledge that they had versus the students who had no garden-based learning activities.
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